


Reflection

by ShokoBean



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Characters reflecting on themselves and their friendship, F/F, Had this lying around in my WIPs for a year and finally finished it, Love Confessions, Mostly soft with a hint of a hint of angst, Takes place right after the Final Fest, Why yes I am late why do you ask
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:22:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26426332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShokoBean/pseuds/ShokoBean
Summary: After the Final Fest is over, both Pearl and Marina take some time to reflect upon themselves, on how they've changed, and on their feelings for each other. They both know that a talk is in order for both of them, but will they both find the courage to do so?
Relationships: Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	Reflection

Their apartment was so quiet after four days of thumping beats, cheering inklings and an ungodly amount of killer wails from Pearl. Almost eerily quiet. It took them hours to finally settle down, with both of them jittery from the excitement, Pearl high from winning the Splatfest, and Marina weak with the relief of knowing that she wouldn't have to leave Pearl after all. 

Pearl laid spread out on her ridiculously large armchair that made her look so damn tiny, Marina occupying their sofa. They stared at the ceiling, silent, processing the last few days, the things they said, and pondering the future ahead. 

Pearl's head replayed the things she said over and over. _You know I love you._ It was true. But did Marina know that? Did she show it enough? Marina's reaction made her think that she didn't. Did Marina think she didn't love her? More importantly, did Marina think she meant it platonically or romantically? She wasn't even quite sure herself. Was there even a difference to her anymore? 

She loved Marina. With her whole heart. She loved her beautiful voice, soft, yet powerful when she put her heart into a song. 

She loved it when Marina said her name with that lovely voice.

She loved how gentle she was, always treating her friends with care and affection, making sure everyone was alright. Pearl loved when Marina worried about her because it showed she cared, but she hated to make her poor friend worried. There were plenty of bad habits she had quit in the years that she knew Marina would hate if she’d found out, just to make sure the octoling had nothing to worry about.

She loved how easily she could take the lead, stay calm even during the roughest storm and face the literal end of the world with a cool head, while coming up with a plan to stop it, because the girl was just so damn crazy smart. 

Nothing could stop Marina. She could take on the world with ease, and she didn’t even know it. Her skills, her intelligence, and the way she could make everyone love her, truly made her dangerous, but she was way too kind and gentle to ever even realize that she was one of the biggest weapons this world had to offer.

What did Pearl have? A load of money that came from her parents. She never worked in her life until she started with her music. A voice that may shattered enemy teams, but only slowly earned her fans. She had needed Marina to get where she was today. She hadn’t really managed to achieve anything on her own, thinking about it. And yet she had the nerve, the _audacity_ to stand beside Marina, to call herself her partner in music, to crave even more than that even. She really felt like she was always lagging a step behind her, always longing to grab Marina’s hand, but always being just out of reach. 

Marina was taking the world in stride, and Pearl feared the day she would finally be left behind. 

Pearl shook off the fears clouding her head for now. She knew she couldn't let that happen. It was so, _so_ incredibly selfish of her, but hadn’t she always been? One more time wouldn’t make a difference now, she told herself. 

They had to talk. They both knew that. The tension that had built up in the air around them was becoming too suffocating. It had started even before the events in the Deepsea Metro. The day they fought against Tartar was the day they both had realised that there was more than friendship, yet neither ever had the courage to say something. Things had been good as they were, and they were both too afraid to break their friendship over something that was possible to never work out. After today though, after Pearl's words and Marina’s fears of Pearl leaving her both brought out into the open, they couldn’t tip toe around it anymore. 

Pearl took a deep breath, about to speak up, when Marina already beat her to it. _Always one step ahead._

“It’s late. I think we should go to sleep. We’ve barely got any shut eye during the fest…”

Pearl knew she was right, but the bit of courage she had just scraped together was waning so fast, and if she wouldn’t talk now, she might never. She sat up, looking over to her friend, who was still sitting slumped down on the sofa.

“Can’t we talk for a little? The last few days have been so crazy, and it feels wrong to just go to sleep now. Don’t you feel like we should... _talk_?” She put emphasis on the last word, hoping that Marina would take the hint.

The octoling tilted her head, a puzzled expression on her face. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I’m so tired I might just fall asleep on the spot right now.”

The inkling looked calm, almost asleep in her chair, but there was a storm raging inside of her. She knew they needed to sleep. They’d both be clearer to talk about their thoughts and feelings. When she looked back at Marina, she already felt that last spark of confidence inside of her fizzle out, and she smiled in a way that she hoped hid all the feelings that suffocated her.

“Nah. You’re right, it can wait until tomorrow.”

Marina gave her a tired smile and got up to stretch, before she walked over to Pearls chair. Grabbing the inkling's hand, she pulled her up with a bit too much force, and as they stumbled back, she quickly caught the smaller girl in her arms with a laugh.

Pearl looked up to see her face full of warmth, a smile lighting up her features, and with their position it really didn’t help to calm down her thundering heart.

“I’m really happy things are the way there are, Pearlie,” the octoling muttered, hugging her small friend tightly. “I’m so grateful that you were the one I met on Mount Nantai. I don’t know what I’d do if it weren’t for you.”

For a second Pearl just stared at her, golden eyes wide, but she quickly hid her face in her friend’s hoodie so Marina wouldn’t see her tears. She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. All she could do was hug her as tightly as her small arms allowed, praying, hoping, begging to whatever god may listen that it would be enough to make Marina understand. 

Despite their exhaustion they stayed like this for a while, neither willing to let go, to let their moment end. 

Alas, they had to, and Pearl barely stopped herself from crying when Marina let go of her.

“Tomorrow,” the octoling suddenly said, “we’ll talk. No getting around it, Pearlie.”

With one last smile she walked off and disappeared into her room, and _god_ , did Pearl want to follow her. Yet her body felt like lead all too suddenly, and she made the way to her own room.

She didn’t bother to get changed, letting her body crash onto the bed and pass out almost immediately. Her dreams were filled with flashes of gold, silver and teal and the ever thumping beats of Splatfests.

* * *

Marina woke up far later than she usually would. Sunlight was pouring in through the blinds she forgot to close the night before, and she had the urge to hide her face with a pillow for a little longer.

In the end she heaved her tired body out of bed, knowing that she would soon grow restless anyway. She stretched, a somewhat successful attempt to drive the tiredness out of her limbs. Satisfied with the result she threw on her most casual clothes, knowing that the only one who’d see her today was Pearl.

Her mind blanked suddenly when her thoughts came to Pearl. Their embrace from last night, the promise of finally talking things between them out… It brought a rush of heat to her face and made her hard pump way too fast this early in the morning.

She opened her room and tiptoed through their apartment, trying not to wake the little inkling who was most likely still sleeping. Maybe she could cook up a nice warm breakfast for her, since she loved them so much. She remembered the time Pearl had cooked for her in the morning, getting up extra early, just so she could prove that warm breakfast was superior. To this day, Marina hadn’t been able to cook anything that got even close to what Pearl had served her then.

Ah hell, now she really was blushing. She really shouldn’t let her mind wander so much, if Pearl saw her like this she’d be teased mercilessly. Maybe she should just focus on cooking… 

Half an hour passed as she prepared various dishes for the two of them, yet there was still no sign of Pearl. Even she’d usually be up at this time, especially with all the noise Marina had made - unintentionally of course - for a while now.

Worried now, she decided to check up on the inkling, this time making no effort to hide her steps. Something inside of her hesitated at the handle. She shook her head, defiant of her gut feeling, and swung open the door, expecting Pearl to jump up and start yelling at her.

Her room was empty.

Her sheets looked like she’d thrown them off in a hurry, she hadn’t bothered to close her closet, with clothes still haphazardly strewn around it. 

Marina’s blood ran cold. Pearl was gone. She could be anywhere, hell she could be actually _gone_. Up and left her.

No, no Pearl wouldn’t do that to her. Would she? No. She wouldn’t. 

Marinas heart was pumping painfully hard, blood running cold. Her mind was racing, frantically looking for an answer to where Pearl was, how to find her, get her back. Why did she leave? Was it the moment they shared last night? The promise of talking? Perhaps she should have stayed. Talked right then and there, while the events were still fresh in their minds

She remembered how once Pearl complimented her, on how level headed she always stayed, always cool in the face of a storm. This storm, however, was inside of her, ripping all her collected thoughts apart and tearing through her calm demeanour. Fear was threatening to choke her. 

Turning on her heels she left, fled the room and its emptiness. It weighed so heavy on her, the silence ringing loud in her head. Think. She needed to think. But her thoughts were broken apart, one chasing the other, clear thinking seemed impossible. Spiraling further and further, endless scenarios running through her head. What if she really did leave? What if she got impatient, what if she changed her mind about everything, what if they were breaking apart after all, what if-

A dull _thunk_ sounded through the apartment when her fist hit the wall. The anxious energy building up inside of her unloaded in a single, hard punch against the wall. She was good at dealing stress from the outside, yes, but she’d still had trouble with her own feelings. Usually she would go to the gym, or join a few rounds of turf war, punch or fight out the stress so she could afterwards solve her problem with a clear head. She hated to be overwhelmed by her emotions, feeling helpless, out of control.

She focused on the wall, checking for any damage left behind, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found none. That was not something she wanted to explain to Pearl.

Her phone. She could just check her phone. Either Pearl had sent her a message already, or she could send one herself. Pearl never went anywhere without her phone.

She quietly sighed to herself as she typed up a message, cursing her own outburst. She really was a mess without Pearl. Pearl was the thing keeping her grounded, what allowed her to stay calm most of the time in the first place. 

[8:24] _Hey, I thought you were still asleep, I just saw that you aren't home. Whatcha up to?_

[8:25] _SHIT_

_I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be out this long!_

_Omw! I’ll brb!_

Marina deflated against the kitchen wall with relief, before laughing to herself. She’d just forgotten the time. It’s really something she should have expected of Pearl. 

For a moment, she let her nerves calm down, breathing slowly. Everything was fine. Everything was fine, it would be fine later, they would talk later, and then everything would be great, certainly. The future of Off The Hook wasn’t uncertain anymore. But she _was_ uncertain about her and Pearl’s… friendship? Relationship? Neither of them seemed to know about that anymore.

She would have dwelled on it, hadn’t the sizzling noises of their breakfast made their way back into her consciousness, resulting in her mad dash to the stove.

  
  
  


It was really hard to open a door when you were loaded with bags. This wasn’t the first time Pearl had this revelation, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. As she balanced several bags full of bread, buns, and various pastries, she slowly inched her key closer to its destination. Just as she managed to slide it in, the door opened, making her stumble forward, dislodging several oh so carefully placed bags from her arms. 

Somehow, Marina managed to catch both her and the bags before either could hit the floor, though now they were in a rather awkward hug, including the groceries.

"I just keep falling for you lately, huh?" 

Marina froze. Pearls was about to back away, apology already on the tip of her tongue, when a sudden snort from above made her relax. She looked up, only to see Marina trying her hardest not to burst into giggles. 

They detangled themselves from another, careful to keep the groceries intact. Pearl quickly went into chattering as she unpacked.

"I really didn't mean to be so late! I just woke up at like five, and i couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to take a walk, and then I remember you wanted to try out this new bakery, so i went there, and I kinda bought a bunch of stuff because i wasn't sure what exactly you'd like, we can just freeze the rest! Probably! And some pastries to snack on later, because we totally deserve to splurge a little after this fest! But for now we got breakfa-"

She turned around, finally noticing the table filled with Marinas work of the morning. Marina herself smiled sheepishly.

"I guess we had similar thoughts."

* * *

After their very extensive breakfast, which to be fair, they really deserved, they lounged on the couch, leaning against each other in quiet comfort. Neither of them were ready to break their silence yet, each lost in their own thoughts. 

Pearl would probably never tell Marina that, for a brief moment, she had actually considered running away. She’d woken up early in the morning, plagued by doubts and insecurities, and the overwhelming guilt of selfish desires. Eventually she’d gotten up, grabbed her phone and wallet. She had intended so see how far she could get, even if she wouldn’t have gone through with it. 

She’d been at the train station. She’d had plenty of money to buy a ticket. To just run away from her responsibilities, her feelings, her insecurities. Maybe, in an earlier point in her life, she would have done it without looking back. 

"I'm really glad you're in my life, Marina” she blurted out. She hadn’t really intended to speak yet, but now that she started, the words flowed out of her. “I don't really know what I'd do without you anymore. You've been… my dearest friend over these past fours years." 

Pearl didn't have the guts to look up. She much rather focused on a thread in her hoodie that was getting loose.

"But I know, and by now you probably know too, that, you're more than a friend to me. You're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, no matter what will happen in the future. I can’t even imagine a future that doesn’t have you in it anymore. I just, I want to be able to hold you, and make you happy, and be by your side, through the good and the bad. I want to come home every day of my life and know that you'll be there. I… I am in love with you, Marina, with my whole heart, and I think you should know that." 

That had been… not as panic inducing as she'd expected. Until now, every time she'd tried to talk about her feelings, she would chicken out or her throat would seize up until she couldn't make a single sound. And yet, this time, the words had spilt freely, directly from her heart. 

Her heart was pounding, sure, but that was merely a minor inconvenience compared to her usual struggles.

"I love you too."

Her thoughts had stopped abruptly when she heard Marina's response, silently gaping up at her with wide eyes.

Marina snorted in response.

"Don't even look at me like that! I've been so obvious about it! And I _know_ you noticed! You're not as dense as you pretend to be, you can't fool me, Pearlie."

"I didn't!! Want to interpret too much into it! I didn't want to take hints that weren't there! I- I didn't want to do something stupid and lose you, alright?!" 

Pearl quickly pulled the hood of her hoodie over her head to hide her blushing face. This conversation wasn't fun anymore now, that it wasn't in her favour. 

Unfortunately, she didn't have time to dwell on that as she was pulled back suddenly, and let out an indignant yelp as she found herself in Marina's lap. Marina, meanwhile, seemed to quite enjoy their new position, a smug grin on her face. 

"Pink suits you face quite nicely, Pearlie~." 

The inkling huffed indignantly, but quickly accepted her fate. She did try to get a small revenge by going dead weight on Marina’s lap, but considering how little she weight, it had almost no effect.

"So just for the record, this is… a thing now? We're official and all that?"

"Well, if that's what you want… then yes, because, I really want that too." A light green hue glowed across Marina’s face now, too. "Though, maybe let's not make it public for now. I… I want to enjoy this for now."

Pearl hummed an affirmative in response, staring at Marina thoughtfully. She sat up a little straighter, placing one hand on Marina's cheek, and she caught herself leaning into it immediately. Her face flushed warmly when she realized with how much love and warmth Pearl was smiling at her.

Pearl gently bumped their foreheads together, a dopey grin spreading over a face. "Love you, 'Rina." 

She quickly stole a kiss from Marinas lips, really no more than a peck, and Marina just as quickly pulled her back in for a proper first kiss between them. It certainly wasn't perfect, they were both clumsy and inexperienced, and they broke into giggles far too soon. Yet it was a perfect kiss for them, because it was just the first of many, the perfect beginning for years to come. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hey, its me, ya boi, I haven't properly written anything in a year, what the shell is up my cephalopods. I just recently rediscovered this old fic that I started right after Final Fest and thought Oh hey what the fuck, this is decent writing! So I finished and here we are. I do have more things planned to write soon, if anyone cares for that. Uhhh also my friend Echo who is super cool made a discord for writers and artists n stuff! https://discord.gg/3hhcMnT  
> Uhhh anyway stay fresh and stan the sappholopods.


End file.
